Elemental Dance
by Dragon Elexus
Summary: Asami Sato is a Carnelian, the only one of her model, an oddity in Homeworld society. Korra's the new Avatar, fresh from the outer planets, and floundering under her new responsibilities. Their friendship is unexpected and uncouth. Afterall, Gems of different models rarely get along. But Asami and Korra are unique, so maybe despite all their differences, that means they're the same
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** This is a crossover between Steven Universe and Legend of Korra- or rather, perhaps a more apt description is that it's a fusion (see what I did there?). Basically, it's a Gem AU. As such, very little of SU should be needed to understand it. Hope you enjoy!

oOoOoOo

 **Chapter One**

When Asami spots her across the room, the first thing she notices about her is the gem.

That sounds completely shallow, she knows, but she can't help it. It's a red forehead gem, just like her own, though the cut is far sharper and angular, the red brighter and more pure than her own black-ribboned carnelian. It's a promising sight, nonetheless- Asami is the only one of her model, and she can't help but feel a jolt of excitement at meeting someone who may have a similar program to her own.

After scanning her eyes across the rest of the stranger's body as she approaches, however, Asami quickly realizes that besides the gemstone, they have very little physical similarity. The stranger's skin is a deep brown to Asami's pale white, and her brown hair is tied back in a foreign style, framing sharp blue eyes. She must be from a warrior class, Asami speculates- not that she minds, of course. There's something quite attractive about those well-toned muscles.

She hides that particular thought behind a professional smile as she reaches out to shake the other Gem's hand. "I'm Asami Sato, pleasure to meet you."

"Korra," the Gem says politely, but with a hint of discomfort. She's trying to hide it, but she seems awkward surrounded by the ostentatious finery of the Republic Sea Spire. She's wearing an outfit which incorporates thick blue 'furs' which have become fashionable on the icy, outer planets, and Asami suspects that the Gem- Korra- hasn't been in this Cluster for long.

Asami wonders what she can do to put this pretty new Gem at ease, so after the initial customary parts of the introduction are over with, she asks how Korra spends her time, hoping to steer the conversation into comfortable territory.

"Travelling, right now," Korra says with a shrug. "I spent most of my life pretty isolated, but now I've finally gotten the chance to explore the rest of the galaxy."

"That's so cool!" The Carnelian says, and she means it. She's spent her entire life, short as it, on the Homeworld, and while she adores it, Asami wouldn't mind the chance to travel herself. "What's it's like? What's the most amazing thing you've seen?"

Korra laughs, and then launches into stories about her journey across the cosmos. About her own home planet, covered in oceans and ice, which at night has skies filled with beautiful dancing ribbons of light. About some of the earliest colonies, millennium old and now practically abandoned, covered in ancient crumbling temples overgrown with local flora. About one moon she visited which was almost entirely covered in desert, and how she'd almost been eaten alive by a massive worm which had slithered beneath the sand's surface.

Asami remains enraptured through it all, especially when Korra begins to relate the harrowing time where, due to a malfunctioning navigational system, her space-ship had been nearly dragged over the event horizon of a black-hole, only to escape at the last moment due to some truly spectacular work on the pilot's part. At that point, Asami's enthusiasm bubbles through her polite facade; "I can hardly believe it- that must have been so terrifying! How did the pilot remain calm throughout all of that? What model ship was it?"

"Um." Korra rubs the back of her neck sheepishly. "I'm not actually sure. I wasn't even in the cabin...and I basically know nothing about space-ships. I mostly Warp, whenever I can. Sorry."

"Oh, no. No, it's fine," Asami assures her, then laughs self-consciously. "I just adore space-ships, and get a little carried away sometimes..."

"You're a pilot, then?"

"Engineer, primarily," the Carnelian explains. "But I like to test drive everything I build, and piloting kind of- caught me, I guess. I love racing."

"Racing?" Korra's eyes glitter as brightly as any gemstone. "That's wicked! I'd love to learn how to do that, some day. It sounds so fun."

"...I could teach you, if you like." Asami grins at the off-world Gem from beneath her eyelashes.

"Really? Would you? That would be amazing!"

"Long as you don't warp off-planet too quickly, I'd be happy to."

"Oh, don't worry," Korra says, stepping a little closer. "I don't think I'm going anywhere soon."

Suddenly, Asami feels distinctly over-heated. Perhaps the other Gem feels it too, because she raises her hand to absently push a lock of hair out of her face- and something catches the light, glittering brightly. It's another gemstone, Asami realizes, embedded in the back of Korra's hand, circular-cut and brilliant blue.

"Oh!" the engineer exclaims before she can think. "You're a fusion!"

"Yeah, I am." Korra moves backwards slightly, and though she still appears outwardly calm, her feet shift into a fighting stance. There's something iron in her voice when she looks Asami straight in the eyes. "You got a problem with that?"

Asami feels her face flush with a totally different emotion- embarrassment at her own forwardness. She's suddenly aware of the many Gems milling around them, enjoying the event. She'd forgotten about them all, being so engrossed in the conversation, but of course, they're still there, and they could easily overhear everything they say. Anybody could notice- anybody could decide to take offence. Korra has no way of knowing if that anybody might include her.

"No, I don't," Asami tells the other Gem, meeting her gaze steadily. "I was just a little...surprised. You don't see many fusions here. But my fam- my designers, they used to fuse a lot."

"Used to?"

"One of their gems were shattered."

"Oh. Oh." Korra stiffens, shame filling her face. "I'm sorry- I should have realized-"

"It's okay," Asami says, though her voice sounds flat. She closes her eyes; she can see Yasuko's gem, radiant yellow, struck by the heavy hammer, seeming to hold for a moment before shattering into a dozen tiny pieces, shards clattering against the floor...

She opens her eyes, and she's back at the party; her screaming and Hiroshi's sobs replaced by the murmur of conversation and the melodies of music. And Korra is there, by her side, clearly looking concerned, but unsure what to do. "It's okay," Asami repeats again. "It was decades ago."

Korra doesn't look convinced- and dammit, Asami just doesn't want to talk about it. They were having such a nice conversation!

"I really am sorry," Korra repeats, voice softer, and Asami knows that she's apologizing for much more than her own words. Asami appreciates the sentiment, she supposes, but it's one she's already heard hundreds of times before- and she knows that no amount of 'sorrys', no amount of wishing, will change things. So she just gives the other Gem a tight smile, and casts around for something else to talk about.

She glances down at Korra's blue gem, the one that got her into this whole mess- and then she pauses mentally. Blue? Blue, when Korra's other gem is red? That's impossible, of course- during fusion, all gems become the same colour, unless-

"-You're the Avatar," Asami says, suddenly, as all the pieces fall into place.

A grin- practically a smirk- replaces the look of concern on Korra's face. "Yep, that's right."

Asami feels more than a little ridiculous. Of course, nobody could be expected to know what the Avatar looks like...but who would assume she'd be here, at this party, completely unannounced, talking to her?

The Avatar has been absent for nearly a century, nearly as long as Asami has been in existence, but of course she knows all about her. The political vacuum Avatar Aang left behind influences practically every element of Homeworld politics, and though Asami has little interest in all of that, she's more than aware of the speculatio surrounding the new one. Everyone knew that after the past Avatar's body was destroyed, the stones were whisked away to a safe location to regenerate, but the Beryls overseeing their new formation and training were being notoriously secretive. Some whispered that there had been a kidnapping attempt; others said that was just rumour, and that the Beryls were being paranoid. Everyone knew that sooner or later, the Avatar would have to be let out of hiding, step back into the spotlight- but everyone had assumed that such an event would be surrounded by fanfare, with speeches and performances, with even the Diamonds in attendance.

But instead, it appeared that the new Avatar had decided to make her first appearance at a minor gala, unannounced.

She's undeniably curious about that, but any enquiries to that end would be far too blunt. So Asami merely allows herself to blush again as she glances towards the floor. "I feel rather foolish."

"Don't," Korra says, with a dismissive wave of her hand. "You actually caught on faster than most."

"Really?" Asami asks, genuinely surprised. "Well, that's something. I suppose most people aren't very observant."

After all, why would anyone be looking out for a second gem?

"I guess," says Korra. "Mostly they're just bigoted jerkfaces, though."

Asami winces. "Do you get a lot of discrimination, then?"

"As the Avatar, no. As a supposed fusion, yeah. I don't mind though," she says, with a laugh. "I mostly let people go on thinking whatever they like, before just, y'know, letting it slip that I'm the Avatar. The looks on their faces. Priceless!"

The Carnelian giggles, though she veils the laugh behind a polite hand. She can only imagine.

Beneath her amusement, however, her mind is racing. She knows it's a matter of debate, the exact nature of the Avatar- fusion or not? The Avatar has five gems, of course, and certainly is as powerful as any five-gem fusion would be. But the nature of that power is different. All fusions are inherently unstable- or so it's said- but the Avatar is anything but. Whereas fusions are a complicated, conflicting mash of different personalities and desires, the Avatar is whole, centered, balanced.

This is because they truly have only one personality. One person, wholly in control. At least, at any one moment. Over the millenia, the Avatar has had many, many personalities.

When a normal Gem's physical body is heavily damaged or destroyed, it's merely an inconvenience. The mind retreats back inside their gem, resting, until a new body can be formed. That is, basically, also what happens to the Avatar when their bodies are destroyed, but it's also far more complicated than that. A new body is created, yes, but the mind- or at least the mind's dominant personality- is also someone completely new, each time. The Avatar is reduced to their most basic programming, and must be trained and raised anew. Their past memories and training can only ever be accessed after a great deal of practice and meditation.

It's always sounded immensely uncomfortable, Asami has thought. She had never actually had to regenerate- this body was her still her first- but she was certain that the process had to be infinitely nicer than, well-losing yourself like that. She's read about Avatar Aang, of course, and heard plenty of stories; from the sounds of it, that sweet and quiet Gem, small and lithe, was nothing like the bold one standing before Asami now.

Not that the Avatar's unique adaptation doesn't have it's advantages, of course. There's the reason they have had so may personalities; they had lived a long, long time. Longer than any living Gem could remember, certainly. Over the millennia, many had tried to kill the Avatar, but all had failed- because while a normal gem only has only a single gem that must be destroyed, the Avatar has five, and if a single one, or two, or three are cracked, the rest of the Avatar's gems will heal them, protecting them from harm. Death is practically an impossibility. With such a regenerative mechanism in place, there's no telling how old the Avatar truly is. Some legends say that the Avatar was birthed alongside the very universe, during the Big Bang itself.

Asami isn't sure if she believes that, but still, her palms itch at the possibility. For all the Avatar's power and political importance, so little is really known about them- or her, she's a her in this life- and now, with the new Avatar standing right in front of her, Asami yearns to investigate, to study. What's her code? How was she created? How old is she? What's the extent of her powers? How do her five gemstones remain coordinated? Asami can't help the flood of questions running through her mind. Curiosity is just part of her programming.

Asami makes herself clamp down on that programming. Korra is not an engine for her to tinker with, or a mathematical problem which is giving her trouble. Korra is a Gem; a nice one, too, it seems, well-traveled and funny, and really, really cute. She's being rude, acting like she's a thing to be studied.

Korra doesn't seem to be offended by Asami's clear interest at all. In fact, she seems rather amused. Or maybe even proud. Self-satisfied, certainly.

"Hey," says Korra, shooting her another bright grin. "Do you want a closer look?"

"Pardon?" Asami asks, blinking.

"At my Gems," the Avatar explains. "I could show you the rest of them. You know. If you wanted."

Some part of Asami's mind are scrambling, searching for the polite, proper way to agree to such an invitation; but that part, raised on the intricacies of Homeworld politics, finds itself superseded by some other, wilder part of her, a part which can't contain her excitement at such an opportunity."Yes! Yes, I would love to."

oOoOoOo

 **Author's Note** : So, this was inspired in two parts; firstly, from the good dozen or so beautiful pieces of fan-art I saw of Korrasami Gem fusions, which were all so creative and different. Secondly, by the Mark Does Stuff Community; Mark Oshiro has started watching and reviewing 'Legend of Korra' again, and the wonderful commentary from both him and his commentators have got me on something of a Korra kick.

Now, this was initially going to be just a straight forward 'Korra and Asami dance to fuse' one-shot, but then my mind started trying to work out the logistics of this crossover, and suddenly it had spiraled out of control into some excuse for me to practice world-building and to share speculation about how Gem society works. Whoops.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Korra leads Asami easily through the main ballroom of the Republic Sea Spire, navigating through the crowds, around the columns, podiums, fountains. It's honestly quite impressive. Asami knows from experience how difficult it is to break free of this place, which is so full of Gems, all determined to mingle and socialize and conspire and gossip. On past occasions, Asami had found herself tied up for days, talking to Gems she hardly knew or cared about, bound by social niceties and politics. Korra is able to cut right through all of that, however. She's unknown to nearly everyone here, so nobody tries to flag her down for conversation. A few of themdotry to grab Asami, but Korra just walks on, not noticing or perhaps simply not caring, and Asami has no choice but to wave them off as she follows.

It's quite liberating really.

The Avatar strides confidantly out of the main room, then leads them through the various outer-corridors with a surety that Asami would not have expected from somebody new to the planet. Even when Korradoesoccasionally pause to get her bearings in the labyrinthine Sea Spire, it's never for very long. Eventually Asami feels a familiar pattern in the path, and comes to recognize where they are going. It's known as the Courtyard of Stars, a beautiful balcony overlooking the water, where one could have a perfect view of the sky above. It's too small to hold large groups, but will often host private engagements, or act as a quiet place for lovers to meet.

Asami's trying quite hard not to think about that last bit when they reach the archway leading to the Courtyard- and when she actually turns the cornerintosaid Courtyard, that's not a problem anymore, because all the carnelian can think about is the massive **thing** sitting there.

It's huge and white and has a mouth filled with sharp teeth and suddenly it'sleapingright at them, and then all her combat code and training kicks in and Asami's already bringing up her hand, sparking with electricity, to defend herself-

"Woah, Naga!" Korra says with a laughs, and the monster stops, just like that.

-and the glow from Asami's gem fades. She drops her hand, staring at giant monster-thing falls at the Avatar's feet. It does this strange little movement, almost like a dance,, wagging some huge white thing sticking out from it's back, then jumps up into what Asami would tentatively call a sitting position. It still towers over Korra, and it bends down to...lick her?

For several long moments Asami can only gape at the sight, until her magnificent mind starts working again and she blurts out, "You have anorganic creature?"

"That's right!" Korra beams at her, slinging a muscular arm around the beast's massive shoulders. "Meet Naga."

Asami feels her hand reaching out, almost of it's own accord, and stops it.

"It's okay," Korra assures her. "She's friendly. See?"

Asami wouldn't know. This creature doesn't lookanythinglike a Gem. It's mouth is open, sort of like a smile, except filled with very large teeth. Is that a sign of friendliness?

Well. Asami doesn't want to seem like a coward in front of the Avatar, and sheiscurious. So she reaches up a hand to the creature's head, and places it between it's two eyes. It's soft to the touch, andwarm. It feels like nothing she's ever handled before, not even the faux-fur that some Gems have been incorporating into their forms. Slowly, Asami lets her hand drift down towards the nose; the creature emits a happy-sounding whine, it's tongue dropping from it's mouth.

"Aww, she likes you," Korra says, coming to stand next to her.

"Wow," Asami breathes.

"Never seen an organic before?" asks Korra, smirk evident in her voice.

"No. Well, actually," Asami amends, "Idohave a plant. A gift from Hiroshi, my creator. But it'snothinglike this."

It really isn't. When Asami had first stumbled upon the stories of organic creatures, decades ago, she'd become quite fascinated by the idea of them. Hiroshi hadn't understood the attraction she felt towards the strange, short-lived creatures, but he fostered it all the same. He wasalwaysdoting on the one carnelian he'd been given permission to incubate, and he'd even pulled some strings and managed to purchase a plant for her, as a gift. It is a tiny thing, but beautiful. It has long, green flat portions called leaves, which it uses to trap light, which through an ingenious process the plant transforms into a chemical energy for it's own use. These 'leaves' also support it's true beauty; an elegant blossom of white folds, radiating outwards. A lotus, it's called. To this day, the lotus sits in a bowl of water on Asami's work desk. When she feels stuck on a design or an equation, Asami will often take a break to admire the plant. It always seems to inspire a serene tranquility in her, helping her focus.

The creature before her is anything but tranquil. It'sconstantlymoving. Lolling tongue, twitching ears, lashing tail...even when the beast seems to calm down beneath her gentle stroking, it still moves, body expanding as it takes in long breathes of air, then deflating when it lets them out.

"It's wonderful," Asami says, although the word seems inadequate.

"Sheis," Korra says, agreeing, but also politely correcting her. Asami takes the correction to heart. In theory, it seemed strange, that some would true names and pronouns to non-Gems...but now that she's actually standing in front of Naga, it's perfectly understandable.

"How did you get her?" Asami asks, finally withdrawing her hand. The creature is apparently disappointed by this, and movs to lick her. Asami shudders as the warm, thick tongue touches her projected body. It's allwet. (She tells herself to imagine it's merely reactor fluid, or oil, the kind she handles regularly.)

Korra, completely oblivious to Asami's internal dilemma about the comparative grossness of animal saliva, just goes over to start scratching behind Naga's ears. "I found her."

"Oh. Wow." Asami shakes her head in amazement. "It's just can't imagine being on a planet where there are so many animals that you can justfindthem."

"Oh, there aretonsof planets like that. Some places are literally crawling with animals. Not Xiaoshui, though," she says, naming her home planet. "It's pretty much completely frozen. Not a whole lot of life. You can still find some though, if you know where to look. So I was wandering the ice-sheets one day, and I stumbled across Naga. She was just a puppy-"

"Puppy?" Asami repeats, confused.

"Infant," Korra explains. "Just born."

Oh yes. It's that odd trait of organic life, which goes through separate and distinct developmental stages. The carnelian nods in understanding.

"She must have lost her mother," Korra says, using one of the organic-specific words that Asamidoesunderstand, sorrow slipping into her voice. "She was so tiny and scrawny...I knew she would die if I left her there. So I begged and begged my teachers, and they let me keep her, as long as I promised to train her. We've been inseparable every since!"

Korra beams, and Asami grins back. Gem and organic make quite a pair, and their fondness is obvious.

Nonetheless...Asami can't help but wonder about thepracticallyof it all.

Organic lives are short lived. Not a lot of study has been put into the topic, of course, but the longest lived organism any research team has found is estimated to be barely a thousand years old, and that had been aplant. How long canthiscreature live? A century, at most? It seems that by bonding with it, Korra was setting herself up for heartbreak.

Asami looks up at the dark, endless sky scattered with stars. She doesn't want to think about such depressing things.

"So...didn't we come here to look at your gems?" Asami says. She knowsshe's being terribly forward, but she needs a distraction.

Korra doesn't even seem to notice her rudeness, however. She just smiles and says, "Oh yeah!"

The Avatar comes over, though first ordering Naga to lie down; the organic creature obediently does so, it's tail thumping lazily against the tiles. "Do you think the lighting's okay?" Korra worries.

"It's fine," Asami assures her. The Courtyard is ringed by torches, a bit anachronistic, but worth it for the atmosphere they provide. Privately, she does concede that the flickering flames don't provide thebestlighting for any scientific work...but the only way she could provide the kind of steady, clear light she's used to working with is through her gem, and that would bathe everything in red. She wants everything she sees to be as accurate as possible.

Korra shrugs. "Right then," she begins. "My gems...Well, you've already seen this one. Ruby." The Avatar lightly taps the red trapezoidal stone in the centre of her forehead. The gem of fire.

"And then there's lapis lazuli," Korra continues, holding up her hand to show off the beautiful circle of blue. The gem of water.

Korra shifts her position into a lower stance, one leg forwards, almost impossible to knock over. Her two exposed gems glow, red and blue; and the brown 'boot' covering her left foot begins to melt away, and when it does, a green light joins the other two. As the glows fade, the new source is revealed: a square cut gem, deep green, like the leaves of the lotus.

"Emerald," breathes Asami. "The gem of earth."

Korra nods. She doesn't re-cover the emerald. Again, all three begin to glow, but this time Asami cannot see what shape-shifting the Avatar is performing. At least, until Korra smiles, and turns around, displaying the next stone.

Embedded in the small of her back, right in that place which is almost impossible to reach without shape-shifting, is a smooth, oval stone, pale yellow in colour. It looks slightly out-of-place against the deep brown of Korra's skin; but then it catches the flame, sparkling brightly, and it looks just as wonderful as the rest.

"Beryl," says Asami.

"The gem of air," Korra says, with a heavy sigh. "I'll be honest, this one's given me a lot of trouble. I'm still not that great with it."

That's a little puzzling- Asami hadn't thought the Avatar could have 'trouble' with some part of themselves. But then, she supposes that when you're so muchmorethan the average Gem, you have a lot more to learn how to control. So perhaps the concept isn't really so strange.

"I'm sure you'll get the hang of it," Asami says, with a reassuring smile. "You probably just need more practice."

"Yeah,practice," the Avatar mutters, frustration evident. She's probably been doing a lot of it. She crosses her arms. Then, she smiles, as if deliberately forcing her mind to other topics. "Anyway, still one more gem, right?"

"Right," Asami agrees, trying to keep her eagerness to appropriate levels. As wonderful as the first four Avatar gems, it's the final one which is truly intriguing. She wonders what position it has taken in this incarnation.

It doesn't take long for her to find out. Korra turns back around to face her; the first four gems glow, red and blue and green and yellow lights all together, almost blinding. The Avatar's projected clothing shifts and changes, revealing her final gem, in the centre of her chest.

It burns with a pure white light, too bright for even Asami's sharp eyes to make anything out. Finally, it fades, revealing coral, the gem of...

...well, nobody's quite sure, are they?Avatar Aang called it 'spirit', but there is a definite debate by what, exactly, that termmeans.

The other four gems are so well understood. To this day, you can find plenty of rubies, emeralds, and lapis lazulis, though of course few as powerful as the Avatar's. There are even a handful a beryls out there now, carefully incubated by Aang after The Great War. They all have well defined power sets. Everybody knows what to expect with them. Civilization isbuiltaround them.

But coral- that's one of a kind. If others once existed, it was long before living memory. Nobody's quite understands what powers it contributes to the Avatar, exactly, or even what personality traits it confers. Duty? Intelligence? Ferocity? Wisdom? Speculation about it's purpose runs rampant.

Asami leans in to inspect it. It's shape is odd- not geometric at all, but smooth and curving in odd, irregular ways. It's flat, and larger than almost any gem she's every seen before. It's not actually white in colour, but rather averypale blue, almost like a clear day's sky...

"Can I touch it?" Asami asks, almost without meaning to. Of course, people hardlyevertouch another's gem- it takes such a great deal of trust- but she can't help herself-

"Go ahead," Korra says. After a moment of hesitation, Asami reaches out, laying a gentle finger on top of the coral. It's not smooth. In fact, it's rough to the touch, almost like Naga's tongue. (Almost, but not quite. The stone isdry, after all).

Korra seems to shift a bit, and Asami withdraws her finger. "Could you...feel me touching it?" she asks.

"Yeah. It's weird, though," she says. "I can sort of feel it inallmy gems, but it's pretty faint. Like an echo or something."

"They reallyareall connected," Asami says, accidentally voicing her thoughts.

"Yeah," agrees Korra. Asami wonders how, exactly, that connection functions; what mechanism bind these five separate stones together, creating a being so unique?

Korra takes a step backward. Her gems all glow; her forms changes again, so that her clothing once more covers all the gems but the ruby and lapis lazuli. Asami wonders if that feels at all uncomfortable- she personallyhateshaving even her hair touching her gemstone, finds it irritating. But then, maybe Korra finds having some gems covered less irritating than every single person she meets immediately freaking out about her being the Avatar.

"Hey Asami," Korra says, after she's settled back into her default shape. "I've been meaning to ask...What model are you? I don't recognize your gem."

"I wouldn't expect you to," Asami tells her. "I'm rather new. First of my kind, actually. I'm a carnelian."

"Carnelian, huh?" the Avatar says, and the word sounds wonderful on her lips. "Well, I hope they start incubating others. I'd like to see more of you."

Korra winks at her.

oOoOoOo

 _Xiaoshui:_ According to Google, Xiao is the Mandarin word for 'smaller', and Shui is the word for 'water', though probably best to take it for a pinch of salt. It's basically my attempt to give the name for a planet based on the Southern Water Tribe, which is kind of hard when 'tribe' doesn't really make sense for inorganic beings, and cardinal directions are completely meaningless on a galactic scale.

I hope you're all enjoying the story so far. 3


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